Ever wonder what makes life better?
I'm going to say Perspective or Viewpoint
I've been reading a lot of different articles from the Hive Learners prompt on the most important virtue.
- Empathy
- Respect
- Love
- Kindness
along with many others have come up.
I'm going to counter all those with one simple virtue.
Viewpoint
A wide viewpoint the looks up, out, in, and forward.
There are many problems in today's world. There is hunger, disease, and poverty. There is racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, ethinic and religious discrimination. There are too few jobs with far too few good bosses. There is war and injustice. Then we have environmental disasters, global warming, pollution issues and so many other issues.
It seems that the number of people who are truly virtuous is nearly zero and that evil is winning in the world.
It is unfortunate but none of those problems are surprising to me. Mankind is fundamentally broken. As a Christian I believe it has been that way since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden when man took his eyes off God and decided to focus on himself.
What do I believe the main problem is:
Humans have lost their proper focus
Blurry Picture
See the image above? Could you tell me much about the place it was taken? Probably wet because of the dewdrops. Probably a lawn because of green grass but there is so little useful information in the picture.
Ever taken a blurry picture of yourself?
I bet that you have and I bet you didn't bother to keep it. When a picture is out of focus it doesn't relay the right information. It isn't worth keeping!
Yet so many people in life have things out of focus and don't even realize it.
Think of these two sentences:
- I live to eat
- I eat to live
Are you focused on Living? Or Eating. Same words, different order, different focus, vastly different meaning!
Or perhaps these two sentences
- How can this company help my profession
- How can my profession help this company
Are you focusing on yourself or the company you work for? Again, same words, different order, different focus...vastly different meaning!
Looking OUTWARD
Some of the most beautiful examples in life of things done well would be these:
1. Mother with Child
Has any mother ever thought to themselves...Ohh this baby will do so much for me? Of course not. A mother's thoughts are "What can I do for my child". That outward focus of LOVE is beautiful!
2. Father with family
Ever given thought to what the difference between a good father is and a bad father? If you ask me its where the father's focus is. Is he focused on his work? (bad father). Is he focused on himself being served by his wife and family? (bad father). Or is he focused on his wife and children making sure they are loved, cared for, and nurtured? (good father). Notice how when the focus turns from self to others things go from bad to good.
3. Leaders
Source: Pixabay
How about thinking of the best qualities in a leader. It could be a boss at work or a leader of a country. It really doesn't matter. Is Mahatma Ghandi remembered for being powerful or working for self gain? Of course not. He is remembered for working tirelessly to aid others in his country. In the same way a boss at work who is only worried about his profits will almost always be a bad boss. One who is worried about the company, the employees and the customers more than his own personal gain will almost always be the better boss!
Focus is Important!
But all those examples above were about people focusing not on themselves but on focusing outward on other people. Focusing on others instead of self changes the narrative and makes for better people and better society.
However the Bible mentions TWO Golden Rules:
- Love your God with all your heart, mind and soul
- Love your neighbor as yourself.
Well. Looking outward is a great way to love your neighbor.
How about the other part: Loving God / Looking UPWARD
Let's again look at two pictures:
In the first picture let's look at some pretty grass.
Grass Closeup
Now the grass is quite pretty. Nice and green. Again the image has some view. I'll liken this image to focusing on yourself (blade of grass) and those around you (the other blades of grass). Nothing at all wrong with that picture.
However, when you start looking up at God you start seeing that there is a :
Much Larger Picture
Grassy Field with Rainbow
There is so much more than just those around us. There is a big wide world out there! God sees the whole world and all those in it. Focusing on Him gives a wider, broader view of not only ourselves and local situation but on the "Big Picture" on a global scale!
Side Note: @lightpen wrote that **Fear of God** is a virtue. I'm going to say that follows with the upward viewpoint I'm mentioning here. In addition @sholex94 mentioned Love is a virtue and if God is love then Love is a form of looking UPhttps://peakd.com/hive-153850/@lightpen/fear-of-god-as-a-virtue thanks @lightpen https://peakd.com/hive-153850/@sholex94/the-most-important-virtue Thanks @sholex94
More Than just a Global View
Looking OUT to others is important. Looking UP to God is important. However there is also looking FORWARD to those yet to come. It is so easy to look at the here and now but God has plans for now AND the future. Your life matters now AND in the days to come. Your children and grand children will be a legacy passed down to future generations.
Having a viewpoint over TIME is an important consideration as well!
I see so many people mired down in the cares and worries of the day that they lose hope. I've heard the despair in the voices of many of my Nigerian friends over their present plight and hardships. Those hardships are VERY real but without a view and working for a better future it kills one very important virtue.
HOPE
It's also important to look IN
Now so many people are focused on themselves that its easy to say that people shouldn't be doing that.
Look at how many self important, self obsessed people there are on social media. It seems so many people want their opinions heard. Want their piece of wealth and prosperity. Want their needs met at the expense of others.
I'm almost tempted to say self is not important
But that is totally untrue. Every person has worth and importance. Ideally a person with proper focus will focus on making the world a better place.
- Better for those around him
- Better for the world in general
- Better for the generations yet to come
However, by making the world a better place for others it also becomes a better place for himself.
For myself the health and welfare of my wife and children are incredibly important to me. My focus on their needs makes my home a much better place for myself.
In taking the time to clean up the park while I go on my daily walk I make my community a little better in a small way. However, I also make it more beautiful for myself as well!
I've been given one life to life and I fully expect to enjoy it as best I can. I've just found that life is better enjoyed in an environment where I have friends, family and community around me.
I was reading a quote from @intishar who said "Self Realization" is a virtue. That would fall under the Look IN heading. However it was said in a way that mentioned looking at self to see how it affects others...A Looking OUT viewpoint
Self-Realization (A focus inward) thanks @intishar
A focus out, up, forward and in is a virtue all should have. Keeping it a positive view is just icing on the cake
I said it at the beginning of this post and I'll say it again. A wide view of the world is a virtue that everyone would be wise in adopting.
Why do I mention a Postive View?
Sins Vs Virtues
Now it may seem a little odd but when someone is told they CAN'T do something their natural response is to WANT to do that thing.
- If I tell you that you CAN'T lust after a gorgeous person...Your natural instinct is going to want to be with that person.
- If I tell you that you CAN'T be rich you'll get mad at me and tell me your going to do it to spite me.
- If I tell my son he CAN'T have sex before marriage he's going to try very hard to do just that!
It is known as the "forbidden fruit" effect or Reactance. Honestly didn't know that term until I was researching for this article.
But why is that important?
If you focus on the Deadly Sins then your viewpoint is on what you CAN'T have and what you SHOULDN'T do. That makes is far harder to actually avoid those things.
If you focus on what you SHOULD do and SHOULD be working towards it takes the feeling of being deprived away and gives a sense of accomplishment as you are working towards being virtuous.
Since this is an article on the MOST IMPORTANT virtue I'd like to take a moment and show how perspective / viewpoint is crucial to all these 7 heavenly virtues.
Virtues
Patience
This is a wonderful virtue where a forward viewpoint is so important. Once you understand your life is now AND in the future it makes waiting and working for something in the future so much easier.
Temperance
Self restraint is hard. Really hard. Just ask my diet! However, a viewpoint on the future allows me to restraint for now to achieve a better outcome later. Looking out for others gives me a reason to say no to self so I can be more useful to others.
Charity
Again this is looking out for others. A type of empathy where you feel another persons pain and need and look out for it. Hard to be charitable if only looking at yourself.
This was written about in these two articles:
@justfavour/empathy-a-virtue-above-all
@floraada/everyone-needs-understanding-in-all
Thanks @justfavour and @floraada
Kindness
This was written about in articles by these three people.
@jjmusa2004/the-cost-of-kindness-as-a-virtue-of-humanity
@les90/humans-should-be-kind
@stekene/please-be-kind
Thanks @jjmusa2004, @les90 and @stekene
Kindness if a form of looking out at others and seeing their needs. Hard to be kind when you are only looking in on yourself.
Diligence
A form of looking in at yourself to see what needs to be done to be your "best" self. It is done not only for yourself but to be more useful to others and as a sacrifice as workers are to remember that God is their ultimate boss.
Chastity
Now everyone seems to thing this implies just not having sex before marriage. However, I see it more as a form of self-control. Important to look inside at what makes you mad and "set's you off" so you can lead a more peaceful life. Also important to look out at others and see how your actions and emotions can make them uneasy (no blowing up at your spouse). However, with regard to maintaining sexual purity until marriage. I believe that's a form of looking forward to create a more special bond with the one you marry.
But then again, I'm old fashioned.
Now while it may not be exactly Chastity I'm going to mention an article about Sincerity here. Being Honest is a form of maintaining one's purity. Sincerity and honest motives are what Sincerity is all about.
@nbarrios67/sincerity-is-an-important-virtue
thanks @nbarrios67 for adding Sincerity to the list of important virtues.
Humility
This was actually going to be my first choice for the most important virtue. To be humble you need to conquer your sense as self being the most important and see others as equals or even superior. Absolutely an outward viewpoint.
Humility is required for so many other virtuous actions though.
RESPECT
Showing respect to parents or others requires being humble and accepting their authority. A virtue mentioned in these articles:
@iskawrites/the-priceless-gift-of-parental-respect
@normalyf/the-trait-of-respect-should
Thanks @iskawrites and @normallyf
Gratitude
Another virtue mentioned by @quduus1 in this article.
@quduus1/gratitude-the-parent-of-all
hard to be grateful if you think you are worthy or entitled to everything. A dose of humility is absolutely required to be grateful for things. Side note: Gratitude goes hand in hand with Charity. I thought about putting it up there but in the end it got lumped in with Humility.
Apologetic/Saying Sorry
That was mentioned in these two articles. Thanks @offia66 and *aiuna
@offia66/just-be-apologetic-and-wed-get-along
@aiuna/everything-will-be-fine-if-you-admit-that-you-are-wrong
Admitting you are wrong is hard. Admitting someone else was right requires humility. Together they require a lot of Humility.
Final Thank You
I was trying to read all the articles and include them ALL in this piece. However, there were just too many articles and just not enough time.
My gratitude and respect to the hard working people at #Hive Learners for going through all these posts. What a lot of work!
Thanks for reading
And one last time.
A focus on things other than just self.
The world would be so much better if everyone's viewpoint was broadened.
Just my quick take on things.